What Could Have Been?
by hersheygal
Summary: What was Jack thinking about after he sees Kate and Sawyer on the tv? And after he accomplishes the surgery, what does he think about? Added a third chapter with JATE reunion!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST

A/N: I am horrible at story titles just to let you know. So I just had to write what I think Jack was thinking about after he saw Kate and Sawyer… . shudders not that I have anything against Kate or Sawyer.. I think they do make a good couple, but I feel so sorry for poor Jack. This chapter is what he is thinking about after he sees them and the next will be about after he finishes the surgery.

Jack willingly walked back to the aquarium and Ben locked the door behind him and left. Jack sat slowly on the table. He didn't know what to think anymore. He was confused, hurt, and angry all at once. What he did know was that he did want off this island for sure. Before when Ben had first offered it, he hadn't really given it much thought. If he was going to be let off the island, then he wanted to be able to get everyone else to come back too.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that Ben had purposely unlocked his door and Ben wanted him to go to that room and see Kate and Sawyer. When he had first spotted them up there, all cuddly with each other. He felt sick to his stomach. Now he realized that if Kate was happy with Sawyer, then he wanted her to be happy.

In order to make Kate happy, they would need to escape. Jack needed to come up with a plan. But it was hard to concentrate knowing that she was in Sawyer's arms.

That made him angry. Here he was feeling guilty because they were feeding him food and he was in this place and he just had this feeling that Kate and Sawyer were being treated worse, especially when he heard Sawyer screaming. But now he realized that he should have known better. Here the Others had actually allowed them to be together in those cages. And all Kate had cared about when she had come to see him was Sawyer. He didn't understand it. He didn't understand what Sawyer had that he didn't.

In Jack's eyes, Kate was the one for him. He felt differently than he had ever felt about anyone else. He had wanted to take it slow with her, he wanted to be cautious. He didn't want to be hurt again, and yet here he was, hurt. He loved her so much. So why didn't she feel the same? Was he just not the one for her? Maybe that was it. Maybe Jack hadn't been there for her like Sawyer had been. Not that he had ever thought Sawyer would be there for her. Maybe Jack wasn't good enough for her.

He hadn't really been treating her that well and he knew that. But if it hadn't been for Michael that one night, he would have kissed her, and now he wished he had. He had been concentrating so much on everyone else and on Michael that he hadn't paid much attention to Kate. It was all his fault. He was too controlling for her. He had pushed her away.

He sighed and he ran his head through his short hair. He stood up and began pacing. The least he could do now was give her a chance to escape. He began thinking of surgical ways that could delay the surgery and give the Others no option other than to let Kate go, and Jack knew that Kate wouldn't leave without Sawyer, so then they would be free. Then Jack stopped. He had it. He knew what he would do. It would give Sawyer and Kate enough time to run. He knew that messing with the surgery would probably spell death for him, but at this point he didn't care. He didn't have anything to live for. As long as Kate got free, then whatever else happened didn't matter.

Now the question was, would Sawyer treat Kate the way she deserved? Did Kate know about Ana? He just didn't get why she suddenly decided to go and play around with Sawyer. It was so sudden and out of the blue for him. They were captured. Weren't they afraid that the Others could come around at any point?

What really made him mad was that the Others probably had watched the whole thing, and that disgusted him. It made him hate the Others more than ever. He had to admit he had been a little attracted to Juliet, but he knew better than to trust her.

He was aware of Sawyer and his attraction to Kate, but apparently he had never picked up on Kate's attraction to Sawyer. To him the whole thing seemed ridiculous. But if Kate chose Sawyer, then that was her choice and Jack would respect it. But he couldn't help but think of what could have been.

A/N: The next chapter will have some dialogue. Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: ok so here is the last chapter. I changed this so many times and it came out way different than it was supposed to be but whatever. Ok so this is after Jack finishes the surgery.

"_I can't believe we're going home." Kate murmured in his ear as they leaned against the railing of the ship, looking out over the moonlit water. _

_She slipped her arm around his and their hands tangled together. _

"_I can't believe we're here together." He said._

"_It's only a dream." She smiled sadly._

"_I know." He looked out over the ocean. "If only it was this simple." _

"_It can be."_

"_But it isn't."_

_She sighed and took her other hand and stroked his chin. "Why do you have to make everything so complicated?" _

_He turned towards her slowly and their eyes met. He felt that connection he always felt when he looked into her eyes. _

"_I'm not. You are."_

"_Well forget the past. Let's just enjoy our time together now." She whispered before their lips met. _

"Jack?"

Jack blinked and opened his eyes. He was in the aquarium again. He quickly stood and looked around him. It was only Juliet.

He relaxed. "Did you drug me?"

She caught Jack by surprise and pushed him against the wall. "Just what do you think you were doing?" She demanded.

"I was giving my friends a chance."

"What about what we discussed?"

"Do you really think I was going to trust you? Your people have caused mine too much pain. You should just be glad that I finished the surgery." He pushed her away from him.

"They're not going to get far Jack. We're on a different island."

"What?" Jack took a step back, shocked.

"We'll get them again, and then she'll watch you die. We have no use of you now."

"You need to keep me alive." Jack said calmly. "What if Ben needs medical attention? You wouldn't dare risk killing me."

Juliet shook her head. "I thought that you were finally thinking rationally. Now we're going to have to keep Ben and everything will be as before."

"If I had killed Ben, then that one guy would have killed all three of us."

"I would have covered for you."

"He wouldn't have listened to you."

Juliet sighed and opened the door. "Ben's not going to be happy with you when he wakes up."

After Juliet finally left he sat down on the ground, exhausted.

He had finally accomplished something. His friends were free. Kate had called him within the hour and she had told him the story. Then the Others took the walkie from him and he finished the surgery. Then Juliet had stuck some sort of shot in him and then he had passed out.

He wasn't sure if the dream had been drug-induced or not. He was thinking that it wasn't. It had been such a wonderful dream. Dreams were all that he had now, and the memories of her.

_I can't leave without you!" _

"_Yes you are! Go!"_

She had shocked him when she had said that, and when she said she couldn't go, it confused him, Now he knew why. She knew that they were on a different island.

Kate had called him a hour later.

"_Jack! _

"_Are you safe?"_

"_We're safe as we can be."_

She told him the story, and he found it hard to stay composed.

"_Jack what are you going to do?"_

"_I'm staying here."_

"_They'll kill you!" _

"_They would have killed us all. Stay away. Don't come back."_

"_Jack." Kate swallowed, not able to find the words that she wanted to say. _

"_Kate." He somehow knew what she wanted to say. They had always been that way. Just looking at each other they could have a full conversation. _

And then Tom took the radio away and he finished the surgery.

Jack still didn't understand why she loved Sawyer. But he was ok now, no matter what happened.

He didn't know what was going to happen, but he was going to assume the worst. He had always been that way since Sarah. Not that it ever worked. He always was disappointed and upset by the outcome anyways.

The door opened up again and Juliet came through.

"What now?" He asked.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

Juliet came and sat cross-legged next to Jack and he looked at her like she was insane. "I'm sorry for everything. This hasn't been a good experience has it?"

"Of course it has. The food has been fantastic." Jack said sarcastically.

"What you did, that was unexpected. I'm sorry about Kate. We all thought she'd want to be with you. But when she asked for Sawyer before you on that first day, it changed everything."

"What do you care about where Kate's interests lie?"

"We want you to be happy. But now that she's not with us." Juliet paused. "Jack, if you stay here and work with us, we won't kill you. And more importantly, we won't follow Kate and Sawyer."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"We have cameras everywhere. You can watch Kate and Sawyer go home."

"You're going to let them go home?"

"They'll find a boat tied up on the beach." Juliet smiled.

"But then they'll have a boat so that they can come back here then."

"No they won't.."

"Why not?"

Juliet put a finger to her lips and smiled. "It's a secret. So what do you say?"

Jack looked down for a minute, then he looked back up at her. "I'd rather die than work with you."

Juliet's face grew hard. "You do realize when I said that Kate and Sawyer are going to go home I didn't mean your island. I meant that they would go just like Michael and Walt went."

"Will they be safe?"

"Yes Jack. They will be fine."

"But she's a fugitive."

"Don't worry. We've already arranged for everything to be ok. So, you have no choice in the matter Jack."

"Then why did you give me the whole, 'we won't follow them' speech?"

"I wanted to give you a choice. But since you don't want to work with us, then we will force you to." Juliet stood up. "Please try to have a better attitude. If you work with us then you can also go home soon."

Jack didn't say anything.

"Think about it ok?' Juliet walked out and shut the door.

Jack sighed. This was getting way out of hand. Now he had to work with them? He was glad that Kate and Sawyer were going to be able to go home. If they really had taken care of everything, then that meant that Kate didn't have to be on the run. Now he just had to figure out a new plan. Things had gotten so complicated in the last week. There was one thing he knew for sure, things were going to be very different from now on.

He walked over to the corner and sat down, remembering all the times he had shared with Kate. He would do like she said in the dream. He would remember all those times, and maybe someday when he finally got to go home he could find her and show her just how much she really means to him.

A/N: I can't seem to actually bring myself to write a fluffy fic.. hmm. Well I'm going to try to do that soon. I do believe that Jack and Kate will get together before the end of the show. They are meant to be together. We Jaters just have to wait it out: ) Anyways, thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: You asked for it, so here you have it. Jate reunion! I've been in a very Jatey mood lately so this is very Jate.

Jack sighed as he drove the car down the street. It had been another hectic, but routine day at the hospital and he was spent. He planned on going on home and watching tv. He had the whole weekend to himself and he was going to spend it being lazy. But first he had to go to the store.

Jack walked down the aisle, looking for a bag of chips. He grabbed the Doritos and went to get a soda.

"Pepsi?"

"Excuse me?" Jack turned from the fountain and found a blonde woman to be staring at him.

"You like Pepsi?"

There was something familiar about that voice. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

The girl froze. "No. You don't. I just thought that a doctor like yourself would like Coke."

"How would you know that I was a doctor?"

The girl froze again, then she said." You have your nametag on, Jack. Nice talking to you." She nodded and then she left.

Jack was confused like crazy and he looked down, but there was no nametag. He looked back up and then it came to him. He hadn't seen her for three years, but he could recognize those eyes anywhere.

"Hey" He yelled at her and ran out of the store with the chips in his hands.

"Excuse me!" the clerk yelled at him from the store.

She turned back around and looked at him sadly. There were tears streaming down her face.

Jack stopped as well and just stared at her.

"Are you going to pay for those sir?" The man came out and asked him.

"I know you. And you know me." Jack said to her, knowing that she was probably on the run and she didn't need him blowing her cover.

Kate closed her eyes as a fresh flow of tears came over them as she nodded.

Near tears himself, Jack came closer to her now only a few inches separated them.

"I thought I would never see you again." Jack said, almost in a whisper.

"Neither did I." Kate said quietly.

They just stared at each other.

"Sir. Are you going to pay for that?" The clerk asked again, rather confused by the mysterious scene unfolding before his eyes.

Jack suddenly dropped the chips and embraced her, their tears clashing.

The clerk picked up the chips and smiled as he walked back to the store.

They finally separated and Jack began to ask her questions. "Where's Sawyer?"

"I don't know. When we got here, things got complicated. He didn't want anyone to know that we were around. He wanted to be on the run. He wanted to return to the way he had been, with me by his side. I couldn't handle it. I didn't want to be apart of it. So I left him."

"I'm sorry."

Kate smiled sadly.

"Do you want to go somewhere? Have some coffee?"

"No. I can't." Kate's eyes looked panicked.

"Kate. Please. You can trust me."

"I'm not Kate."

"Who are you?"

"Molly."

"Then Molly let's go get some coffee."

She shook her head.

"Then come back to my house. It will be safe there."

Kate thought about it for a second and then she agreed. "Okay."

"Do you have a car?"

"No. "

"Then we'll go in mine." Jack said and soon they were in his house.

After Kate had admired it and told him how nice it was, Jack made some hot chocolate and they sat at the kitchen table.

"So..what have you been up to?" Kate asked him.

"Nothing. I worked with the Others for a couple months and then they let me go. I got home here and I've been working at the hospital ever since."

"What did you tell them?"

"I told them the truth. They thought I was insane for a while but then they finally let me come back."

"Have you heard anything from everyone else?"

"No. I've thought about going back and looking for them, but then I would always back down."

"I haven't heard anything either."

Jack looked down, his heart beating faster, not sure whether or not he should tell her what he was about to say. "I saw you with Sawyer. That day I did the surgery."

Kate looked down. "I'm sorry you saw that. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you I didn't feel something for him. "

"No I understand."

"Thank you, for risking your life for us. I'm glad that they let you go too."

"I wanted you to be safe. Are you on the run?"

"No. The Others took care of that. I just have to be Molly with blonde hair for the rest of my life."

Jack nodded. "Well you can be Kate with me."

Kate looked at him. "Call me Kate again."

"Kate."

She smiled.

"Kate?"

"What?"

"I love you."

Kate blushed and fumbled with her hot chocolate.

"Really Kate. I mean it. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too."

Jack wanted to run his fingers through her hair. Blonde was definitely a new look for her, but it looked good.

"So what do we do now?" Kate asked.

"We should take it slow. Do you have a cell or something so that I can reach you?"

"Yeah. You know what? I think we should go rent a boat and try to find everyone. I mean what if they're still there?"  
Jack nodded. "Yeah that's a good idea. Let's go tomorrow."

Kate nodded and sipped her hot chocolate. In less than an hour her life had changed drastically. A day hadn't gone by that she hadn't thought about Jack, wondering where he was, what he was doing. She didn't know if she was going to be able to stay with Jack, but she was going to try. They'd work together and take it slow like he said. Together they could get through anything.

A/N: The end! I hope you enjoyed reading this!


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